Bangkok Travel Accessories

Bangkok travel accessories are going to make your flight so much easier and having the right travel accessories makes the seasoned traveller stand out.

The guy with the Bose noise cancelling headphones is the classic gadget guy, but you don't have to spend a fortune on travel accessories to have a comfortable flight.

Depending upon your point of departure flights to Bangkok can be 11 hours or even longer. During this time you need to be comfortable, keep yourself occupied and avoid dehydration.

My favourite discovery and "must have" accessory, has been the use of the inflatable neck pillow.

Neck Pillow: For years I travelled without a neck pillow and whilst it is not an absolute necessity in business class it is vital in economy class.

I paid 100 Baht for this small inflatable neck pillow on the beach at Pattaya and can honestly say it is worth its weight in gold. Once inflated it fully supports the head in ways that the seat back cannot.

There is no more nodding off only to be woken as your head slumps onto your chest. It is also pretty good when sitting on the beach in a deckchair.

One word of caution, the valve is formed sealed and you have to puncture it with a sharp object before you can inflate it.

So do it before you get on the plane as you will have difficulty locating a sharp object on the plane to make a hole.

Neck pillows are so comfortable that I have seen many passengers exiting the plane still wearing them. They make a great fashion accessory or at least some people seem to think so!!

Eye Mask: If you are in business class you will get a complimentary eye mask otherwise you need to bring one along with you. It is a great travel accessory and it doesn't take up much space.

If you are seated next to the night owl who has his reading light on all night you will be glad you have it.

If you have a daytime flight the cabin attendants usually ask that the window blinds be drawn down. This helps reduce the contrast for those watching movies or makes it dark enough to sleep.

Of course there is always someone who wants to peer out at the miles of ocean and study it intently. Beats me what they find to look at. Anyway your trusty eye mask will be a godsend in this situation.

MP3 Player:

In terms of keeping occupied there are so many things to do now on flights that there is really no excuse for being bored. Break up the flight into small sections and plan what you will do when you first board the plane.

One of my favourite pastimes is to sleep. Clicking my MP3 player onto my favourite tracks, slipping on my eye mask and just nodding off is a great way to kill 4 hours or so.

Dehydration: Dehydration when flying is caused by the low humidity of the cabin atmosphere. As you breathe out you lose more moisture from your body than you otherwise would.

There are a number of serious complications from becoming dehydrated so it is something to be avoided. Drinking alcohol, tea or coffee all cause your body to become dehydrated more quickly as they are a mild diuretic, which means that they make you urinate more frequently.

Airlines will warn you about drinking too much of these and it is not so they can save money. Drink water, soft drink or fruit juice when ever it is offered to you. Limit your intake of alcohol, tea, coffee and cola.

One great travel accessory to stave off dehydration is to take an empty sports drink bottle with you. Refill this with water after you have passed the x-ray machines or fill it on the plane. Ask the cabin attendant, don't fill it in the toilet as that is not drinking water.

To give you an idea of how much to drink, for most people drinking 4 Litres of fluids during an eight hour flight would still leave them partially dehydrated.

You will then need to fully rehydrate when you arrive at Bangkok and before you hit the heat of the day or you may become ill. To rehydrate after arrival I find that drinking 250mL of water every 30 minutes until I start to want to go to the toilet is a good start.

In a normal day in Bangkok I drink 4.5L of water per day as a minimum. I agree it is a lot but having suffered twice from the symptoms of dehydration I am now a lot more aware of how much fluids my body needs.

Wikipaedia says that, "A useful rule of thumb for avoiding dehydration involves monitoring the frequency and character of urination. If one develops a full bladder at least every 3-5 hours and the urine is only lightly colored or colourless, chances are that dehydration is not occurring; if urine is deeply colored, or urination occurs only after many hours or not at all, water intake may not be adequate to maintain proper hydration."

I have covered all of the travel accessories that you need to have a comfortable flight, but this is just the start of your trip and there are lots more things in your checked luggage that you need for your travel. If you are interested in what to take in your checked luggage then follow this link to see more advice on travel accessories to take with you.